Putin defends greater “financial interaction” between countries

The leaders of the nine permanent members of the Brics group began their summit meeting this Wednesday (23) in the Russian city of Kazan, in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participates via videoconference due to the domestic accident that prevented him from traveling to Russia.

“Now, in a limited format, we propose to consider the most relevant aspects of the global agenda, exchange views on the issue of cooperation between the Brics States at the international level, including the resolution of acute regional conflicts”, stated the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, opening the meeting.

The Kremlin chief stressed that attention should be focused on “deepening financial interaction within the BRICS” and on “another no less important issue: the subsequent expansion of the group”. After Putin’s opening words, Russian television stopped live broadcasting the meeting.

This is the first summit for the group of emerging economies after its expansion from five to nine members in January.

After the limited format meeting, the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, as well as Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia – will sit at the table with representatives of around 20 states invited to the event, including Turkey, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

At the end of the summit, BRICS leaders will approve a joint declaration on a range of global issues, including the conflict in Ukraine.

The Brics group, founded in 2006 and which held its first summit in 2009 in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, includes countries that represent a third of the world economy and more than 40% of the population.

According to the Kremlin, around 30 countries have shown interest in participating in one way or another in the activities of this group – 13 of them could become BRICS associate countries.

Analysts point out that, with this summit, Putin is trying to show the world that Russia is not as isolated as the West claims.

In this sense, the Russian dictator once again defended a “new multipolar world order” at the opening of the summit.

“The process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, it is a dynamic and irreversible process”, he stated during the official opening ceremony of the BRICS meeting in Kazan.